19th October 2004
In announcing its rejection of the Assembly’s recent planning proposals to meet Wales’ renewable energy needs over the next fifteen years*. CPRW’s Director, Peter Ogden responded by posing the following challenge to the Assembly:
“Open any newspaper and just look at all the confusing messages about improving Wales’ renewable energy performance:-
Trees - our salvation green energy crop, never ending acrimony about the blight resulting from wind power stations, not to mention the untapped, unsung capabilities of the Welsh tides and the plea for us all to switch off and do our bit to conserve energy.
These messages have one thing in common; they highlight the lack of and indeed the crying need for, a clear long term vision and more importantly a coherent strategy to deliver Wales’ future energy needs in ways which safeguard the integrity of the environment.
Is it any wonder therefore that CPRW unequivocally rejects the Assembly’s proposals to zero in on the mad rush to trade large areas of Wales’ unspoilt uplands for the functional surrealistic of industrial turbinescapes?”
The MIPPS and TAN 8 documents in CPRW’s opinion clearly reveal the depth and reality of this muddled thinking about renewable energy and the illogical political expediency of promoting the onshore wind turbine quick fix.
The inadequate nature of the MIPPS / TAN8 documents highlights, the urgent need for a comprehensive and integrated Wales wide Energy Strategy which puts the Renewable component into a sensible context. Only when we have this can we plan effectively for future energy needs.
At present CPRW believes that the destiny of our future Energy scenario is being predicated by the prescriptive nature of the MIPPS. The opposite of course should be the case, where MIPPS delivers the renewable energy component of a well coordinated Energy Strategy.
Until such a sensible and integrated national energy strategy exists which balances our greed with our needs in an environmentally responsible manner, CPRW does not accept that giving onshore wind a planning and market advantage is justified.
“Years of the planning decisions aimed at defending the integrity of the Welsh countryside, not to mention the passion of those who care for it and have shown their commitment to protecting the beauty of the Welsh landscapes of Wales, will be jettisoned and turned upside down by the stroke of the Ministers’ pens, if their current approach is not challenged. CPRW is not prepared to stand by and let this happen.”
CPRW has notified the two Ministers of nine reasons why the current MIPPS and TAN 8 approach are flawed and need to be urgently and radically rewritten.
In particular CPRW has emphasized that Wales’ future strategy for renewable energy should be directed towards investing in and promoting a basket of renewable technologies coupled with a campaign to promote greater lifestyle energy conservation. The organisation is adamant that the energy agenda should not be dictated by the convenience of one renewable technology which is increasingly being challenged as inefficient and visually intrusive.
A comprehensive briefing note explains CPRW’s further justification for rejecting the current approach being proposed for planning Wales’ future renewable energy provision.
*CPRW response to the draft Ministerial Interim Planning Policy Statement on Renewable Energy and draft Technical Advice Note 8
Notes for Editors